Located on Tulane University’s Gibson Quad, Mussafer Hall combines the adaptive reuse of a 1902 brick building with a modern limestone addition. The building is the home of the Center for Student Success, which brings together Tulane’s Academic Advising and Career Services programs.
The 1902 Dutch-Renaissance style building was originally constructed as the college’s first dormitory. The long, narrow building was divided by a double-loaded corridor. The glass-fronted offices and interview rooms lining the hall have windows looking outside to make the building feel open and bright. Two original stairwells have been repurposed as lightwells and, where possible, original brick interior walls were exposed and repointed.
Photo: Sara Essex Bradley.
The addition sits on a tight site between the 1902 building and a 100-year-old oak tree. The 7,600-sf building navigates its site with a series of shifting cantilevered volumes clad in stucco, limestone, and glass. Mussafer Hall’s triangular footprint is set back from the historic building and angled away from the tree to protect its roots and canopy.
Photo: Neil Alexander.
The central ground-floor space is designed to accommodate classes, lectures, meetings, receptions, seminars, and other events. Black millwork panels conceal storage areas, flex space, and marker boards.
Mussafer Hall is the second full building studioWTA has designed on Tulane’s campus and the firm’s 12th project for the School.
Photo: Sara Essex Bradley.
Photo: Sara Essex Bradley.
Photo: Sara Essex Bradley.
Photo: Sara Essex Bradley.
Photo: Neil Alexander.
Related Stories
University Buildings | Nov 18, 2021
Pratt Institute Residence Hall completes, opens
Hanrahan Meyers Architects, in collaboration with Cannon Design, designed the project.
Designers / Specifiers / Landscape Architects | Nov 16, 2021
‘Desire paths’ and college campus design
If a campus is not as efficient as it could be, end users will use their feet to let designers know about it.
University Buildings | Nov 15, 2021
Red River College Polytechnic’s new Manitou a bi Bit daziigae opens
Diamond Schmitt and Number TEN Architectural Group designed the project.
Cladding and Facade Systems | Oct 26, 2021
14 projects recognized by DOE for high-performance building envelope design
The inaugural class of DOE’s Better Buildings Building Envelope Campaign includes a medical office building that uses hybrid vacuum-insulated glass and a net-zero concrete-and-timber community center.
University Buildings | Sep 28, 2021
Designing for health sciences education: Specialty instruction and human anatomy labs
It is a careful balance within any educational facility to provide both multidisciplinary, multiuse spaces and special-use spaces that serve particular functions.
University Buildings | Sep 23, 2021
University of Washington’s new mass timber building tops out
LMN Architects designed the project.
University Buildings | Sep 7, 2021
Gateway to the West: Kansas City University Center for Medical Education Innovation
Kansas City University Center for Medical Education Innovation uses GKD Omega 1520 metal fabric.
Laboratories | Aug 31, 2021
Pandemic puts science and technology facilities at center stage
Expanding demand for labs and life science space is spurring new construction and improvements in existing buildings.
Giants 400 | Aug 30, 2021
2021 Giants 400 Report: Ranking the largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S.
The 2021 Giants 400 Report includes more than 130 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.
Giants 400 | Aug 26, 2021
2021 University Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the higher education sector
Gensler, AECOM, Turner Construction, and CannonDesign head BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest university sector architecture, engineering, and construction firms, as reported in the 2021 Giants 400 Report.